First major update brings a new Web experience and cycling support.

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Microsoft today made the first major update to its Band fitness device since it launched in the US (and, still, only the US) just under four months ago. Today's update touches all aspects of the Band's ecosystem, with new capabilities on the device itself, an SDK to let third-party phone apps communicate with the Band, and a new Web dashboard.

On the Band there's a new Bike Tile, used to track both indoor and outdoor riding. It'll do the expected health band things: GPS will let you map out your rides (including elevation tracking), the heartrate monitor will assess how hard you're working, and so on. The Guided Workout functionality has been updated to include bike workouts.

The Band also picks up some new ways to read and respond to messages. Quick Read shows e-mail, SMS, and other notifications in a large font to let Band wearers read their notifications while in motion without having to scroll.

For replying to messages there is, remarkably, a new virtual keyboard. Although the Band's screen is pretty tiny, the latest firmware adds a miniature keyboard which the company says will enable SMS replies "with minimal errors."

If you don't want to type, you can instead dictate, using Cortana for speech-to-text.

On the Web, there's a thing called the Microsoft Health Web Dashboard providing an online counterpart to the on-phone app. With this, progress toward fitness goals can be tracked, and valuable insights of some kind are offered.

The SDK is currently available for Windows Phone and Android, with iOS coming soon. The SDK doesn't let developers create apps that run on the band itself. Apps run on the phone that's paired to the Band, with the band itself being used only as a source of sensor data (or most of it; GPS doesn't appear to be available) and a place to display notifications and messages.

The concept looks extremely regimented. Developers can create their own tile with an icon or, optionally, an icon plus an unread count, and tapping on the tile can show up to eight stored messages that are laid out in a standard way.

43 Reader Comments

So far, I'm liking the keyboard, which surprised me quite a bit. The major problem with it comes with correcting errors, not in the initial typing. Every time I've made a mistake, it's been faster to just delete the whole message. The (+) button, which you'd assume would insert text where you push that button, doesn't always work the way you'd like it to.

While most of the Band stuff works fairly intuitively, this is one of the interface decisions they made where I feel I have to conform how I want to interact with it to the way it actually works. THat's...not a good decision.

The ability to use Cortana to respond to texts you get is a great addition. I always wondered why I couldn't do that before, but here it is. Like the others, the keyboard is surprisingly functional, though I prefer using voice.

Anyone using this with Android well? The kinda steep price is a bit of a turn-off, but I see others in the same general class of smartwatch/fitness band creeping up (Fitbit Chare/Surge) the price scale.

I keep trying to telling myself that insomnia / not exercising enough is a good enough reason to get this, as it's "fitness-related" and "tracks your sleep" but I know I'd just end up getting it because it's a cool and flashy gadget to show off to coworkers to alienate myself even more.I'll probably eventually get one anyway. Microsoft did a good job marketing it primarily as a fitness band.

This keyboard idea sounds pretty crazy. How do they make it more convenient than taking your phone out of your pocket I think is the real question.

There are a handful of cases I can think of where a quick reply on a wrist would be more convenient than reaching into pocket, pulling out phone, turning on the screen, unlocking the phone, opening the message app, replying, then putting it back in your pocket. I doubt it'd be used for extended conversations.

This keyboard idea sounds pretty crazy. How do they make it more convenient than taking your phone out of your pocket I think is the real question.

There are a handful of cases I can think of where a quick reply on a wrist would be more convenient than reaching into pocket, pulling out phone, turning on the screen, unlocking the phone, opening the message app, replying, then putting it back in your pocket. I doubt it'd be used for extended conversations.

This keyboard idea sounds pretty crazy. How do they make it more convenient than taking your phone out of your pocket I think is the real question.

My experience at the office yesterday: if I had my phone in my pocket? Went for the phone. When I left my phone at my desk to charge and was walking around the office? I was able to reply from wherever I was without having to walk back and grab the phone. Life-changer? Nah. A convenience when your phone is one place and you're another? Yep. Cortana integration might be even more useful, however.

For replying to messages there is, remarkably, a new virtual keyboard. Although the Band's screen is pretty tiny, the latest firmware adds a miniature keyboard which the company says will enable SMS replies "with minimal errors."

If you don't want to type, you can instead dictate, using Cortana for speech-to-text.

Will it warn you about hills before you get to them? And does its map function know about bike paths? I use Google Maps on my rides all the time, but so far no map app seems to be quite as good in some ways as the old paper Rubel maps.

Pebble has a new color e-ink version due out in May once they've reached their Kickstarter quota. It has a time-based view unlike the app-centric view of the current OS, the battery should last a few days and it'll be a tough little bastard like the current plastic and metal Pebbles. It also has a mic for voice message replies or speech-to-text via Google or Siri. $159 for a Kickstarter pledge or $199 retail is a steal.

Pebble has a new color e-ink version due out in May once they've reached their Kickstarter quota. It has a time-based view unlike the app-centric view of the current OS, the battery should last a few days and it'll be a tough little bastard like the current plastic and metal Pebbles. It also has a mic for voice message replies or speech-to-text via Google or Siri. $159 for a Kickstarter pledge or $199 retail is a steal.

Microsoft has a lot of catching up to do...

Actually, of the things you listed only the color e-ink screen with according battery life is what they have to catch up to. The band is already durable and already has a mic for voice reply and speech to text, and it's also available at $199 at retail.

I'm an android user, who got the update, but I'm not seeing the keyboard functionality - does anybody know if this is just a Windows Phone connected feature?

I think it is universal. After your Android App updates I would reboot your phone and re-connect to the Band. It has to push the new firmware onto the Band.

Once installed, you can currently only use the keyboard to respond to messages.So have a text message or facebook message sent to your phone then tap Reply instead of dismiss and you will have the options to type, speak, or cancel.

I'm an android user, who got the update, but I'm not seeing the keyboard functionality - does anybody know if this is just a Windows Phone connected feature?

Neopassive said it above, but you might not have to reboot. I manually quit the app (on Windows Phone) to make sure the process was dead, and then, when I re-started the app, it recognized the firmware update the Band had to make.

If you have done that, be aware that the keyboard only pops up when you hit "reply" to a text message. Let us know how it goes!

Well, that's unfortunate, then. Hopefully, Microsoft finds a way to make all of their features available on all platforms. That's sort of the new mantra in Redmond, and I suspects it's worth it to them to keep that image going.

Well, that's unfortunate, then. Hopefully, Microsoft finds a way to make all of their features available on all platforms. That's sort of the new mantra in Redmond, and I suspects it's worth it to them to keep that image going.

My guess, on the keyboard, is that b/c it's using "windows flow" - I don't know what that is exactly, that the keyboard is sharing/using the processing with/of the windows phone os, which is why it's not available on android.

Anyone using this with Android well? The kinda steep price is a bit of a turn-off, but I see others in the same general class of smartwatch/fitness band creeping up (Fitbit Chare/Surge) the price scale.

You might think that it's in the same general class until you crack open the SDK and see what all the different sensors can do. Granted all of the sensors make it quite a bit more bulky than most people are initially okay with, but it makes sense once you start using it.

The update is nice, but it's the release of an SDK that changes the game. The SDK needed to come out four WEEKS after the device came out, not four Months....

Pebble has a new color e-ink version due out in May once they've reached their Kickstarter quota. It has a time-based view unlike the app-centric view of the current OS, the battery should last a few days and it'll be a tough little bastard like the current plastic and metal Pebbles. It also has a mic for voice message replies or speech-to-text via Google or Siri. $159 for a Kickstarter pledge or $199 retail is a steal.

Microsoft has a lot of catching up to do...

The Microsoft Band has GPS built in, more than just a rudimentary step counter, a touch screen, and a heartrate monitor for $199.

Well, that's unfortunate, then. Hopefully, Microsoft finds a way to make all of their features available on all platforms. That's sort of the new mantra in Redmond, and I suspects it's worth it to them to keep that image going.

The whole smarts comes from the phone Word Flow keyboard, so they'd have to include that engine in the Android/iOS app to make it work.

I'd have never thought a keyboard would work on such a tiny screen, but this has set the benchmark on micro data entry.